Providers, advocates, and individuals with lived experience are working together to ensure policymakers understand the urgency of investing in community-based behavioral health services. Across Maryland, more people are seeking care, often with increasingly complex needs. Without adequate funding, programs risk limiting services, expanding waitlists, or closing entirely, ultimately reducing access to care for the very people who need it most.

Keep the Door Open: Advocates Rally for Behavioral Health Funding

In February, Senior Leadership from PDG proudly joined hundreds of advocates in Annapolis for the Keep the Door Open Rally, calling on lawmakers to increase funding for community behavioral health services. Participants shared a unified message with legislators: funding for mental health and substance use disorder services has not kept pace with growing demand.

The rally highlighted a simple but powerful goal: keep the doors of community behavioral health providers open so that Marylanders can access life-saving care when they need it. Even though the rally is over, the advocacy continues, and key legislation is still on the docket.

Key Legislative Priorities for Maryland’s Behavioral Health System

Advocacy organizations such as the Community Behavioral Health Association of Maryland have identified three main legislative priorities that are aimed at strengthening Maryland’s behavioral health continuum of care and ensuring providers have the resources necessary to meet growing demand. 

Sustaining and Expanding Community-Based Care

Community behavioral health providers are the backbone of Maryland’s public behavioral health system, delivering treatment, rehabilitation, housing support, and employment services to individuals living with mental illness and substance use disorders. Legislation and policy proposals this session emphasize stabilizing provider funding and supporting service delivery models that integrate mental health and substance use treatment within community settings.

Strengthening the Behavioral Health Workforce

Workforce shortages remain one of the biggest barriers to expanding access to care. Behavioral health providers across Maryland report persistent challenges recruiting and retaining qualified clinicians, case managers, peer specialists, and other essential professionals. This year’s legislative efforts are focused on improving workforce pipelines, supporting training and credentialing pathways, and ensuring sustainable reimbursement structures so providers can maintain competitive salaries.

Investing in Crisis Services and Community Infrastructure

Another major area of legislative focus is strengthening Maryland’s crisis response system. Investments in crisis services like call centers, mobile crisis teams, and community-based stabilization services help divert individuals in crisis away from emergency rooms and law enforcement settings and into appropriate behavioral health care. 

There are several important bills in the current legislative session that reflect these priorities:

Senate Bill 39: Behavioral Health Reimbursement Rates

This bill would establish a workgroup to review and modernize reimbursement for behavioral health services and require the Maryland Department of Health to conduct a rate study for outpatient mental health centers. Since reimbursement rates have not kept pace with rising operational costs, the bill also proposes a 3% increase in Medicaid reimbursement rates for outpatient mental health centers in fiscal years 2026 and 2027. 

House Bill 772: Behavioral Health Rate Methodology Modernization

This bill would create a workgroup within the Maryland Health Care Commission to develop transparent, cost-based reimbursement for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics and outpatient mental health centers. This effort reflects a broader push across the state to ensure reimbursement models accurately reflect the real costs of delivering behavioral health care.

Senate Bill 428: Collaborative Care Model Access

This bill seeks to expand access to integrated behavioral health care by prohibiting copays, coinsurance, or deductibles for services delivered through the Collaborative Care Model in primary care settings. By removing financial barriers, this legislation supports greater integration of mental health services into primary care, which is known to improve early intervention and treatment outcomes.

Together, these bills highlight a clear theme in this year’s legislative session: strengthening the financial sustainability, accessibility, and integration of behavioral health services across Maryland.

Why Advocacy Matters

Legislative advocacy is essential to the future of behavioral health in Maryland. Policies enacted today will shape the availability, accessibility, and quality of services for years to come. Advocacy from providers, clinicians, and community organizations ensures that policymakers hear directly from the people who are working every day to support individuals in recovery and mental wellness. 

PDG remains deeply committed to this work. As part of Maryland’s behavioral health community, we are committed to always being a strong and active advocate for policies that strengthen services, support providers, and improve outcomes for individuals living with mental health and substance use challenges.

Take Action

We need your help! Start by learning about current advocacy campaigns by visiting the NAMI Maryland Advocacy Alerts page.  Whether it’s submitting testimony, contacting your legislators, or sharing your professional perspective, your voice plays an important role in shaping the future of behavioral health care in Maryland.

Together, we can ensure Maryland’s behavioral health system remains strong, accessible, and responsive to the needs of every member of our community.